Factor Three

Factor Three is a short-lived supervillain subversive organization appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The group is usually depicted within the pages of The X-Men. It was led by the Mutant Master, who was secretly an alien from a race of beings from Sirius that resemble octopuses. It used various mind control methods to capture and train new agents, though some merely joined for profit. The Factor Three saga, as the storyline has become unofficially known in the years since, was one of the earliest multipart storylines in the team's history.^[1]

Factor Three
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	The X-Men #28 (January 1967)
Created by	Roy Thomas Werner Roth
In-story information
Base(s)	Mt. Charteris; Burton Canyon, Colorado; the Alps in Europe
Member(s)	Banshee Blob Changeling Mastermind Mutant Master The Ogre Unus Vanisher

Publication history

Factor Three was first mentioned in The X-Men #28 (January 1967), and was created by Roy Thomas and Werner Roth.^[2]

Thomas spoke on the creation of the team stating "Factor Three [was] my response to S.P.E.C.T.R.E., U.N.C.L.E., and other alphabet-soup spy groups".^[3]

The team continued to be mentioned or appear throughout the following issues, from #29-39 (February–December 1967), until the team disbanded.

Fictional team biography

Factor Three first appears through two of its agents, Banshee and Ogre.^[4] Although the organization's credo involved the prosperity of the mutant race by becoming the third World Power (after the US and then-Soviet USSR), Ogre is not a mutant at all, but merely a paid mercenary who relies on technology. Banshee, forced to submit to the Mutant Master's commands via a headpiece rigged to explode should he refuse, teams up with Ogre to kidnap Professor Charles Xavier. His fledgling X-Men thwart their attempts, capture Ogre, and free Banshee.^[5]

Later, Factor Three frees the supervillain Juggernaut, serving to distract the X-Men while Professor X is kidnapped. With the help of Banshee, the X-Men locate Factor Three's hidden base within the Alps, but are captured during the rescue attempt. Finally meeting the Mutant Master himself, along with his full array of henchmen, their plan is unveiled. They intend to cause nuclear war between the US and the Soviet Union, which would wipe out the human race.

The X-Men escape the mountain base just before it explodes. Factor Three relocates to an alternate base, where Changeling, Mutant Master's second in command, discovers his plans to destroy mutantkind as well as humankind. Changeling frees Professor X and Banshee, who inadvertently destroyed the Mutant Master's cloaking device, revealing his alien appearance. The X-Men and the remainder of Factor Three join forces in attacking Mutant Master, who commits suicide to avoid capture. With Mutant Master dead, Factor Three disbands.^[6]